Would Depression Or Bipolar Disorder Lead To Heart Disease?

Depression can happen to anyone at some point or another when he or she encounters disappointments. For most people, it should be over after a while but for some, the depression can become so severe that it will affect their daily lives and can become a serious illness. There are many forms of depression, namely major depression, persistent depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness or bipolar affective disorder, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, and activity levels. It is characterized by periods of 2 extremes of mood - mania (elevated) mood and depressive (low) mood.

The disorder often develops in a person's late teens or early adult years. At least half of all cases start before the age of 25. Some people have their first symptoms during childhood and others may develop symptoms late in life. About 3 percent of people in the United States have bipolar disorder at some point in their life, and around 1 percent are found in other countries. 

While the cause is not clearly understood, bipolar disorder tends to run in families. It could be caused by brain structure and functioning, too. Nevertheless, most scientists agree that there is no single cause for such disorder. Instead, the illness can likely be the results of many factors act together.

In a scientific statement released on Aug 10, 2015 by the American Heart Association, the researchers warned that major depression and bipolar disorder can put teens at a significantly higher risk of heart disease, and hence adolescents with mood disorders need to get extra screening. The findings were also published online Aug 10, 2015 in the journal ‘Circulation’.

Several studies on depression, heart disease and adolescents were reviewed by the researchers. Their findings revealed that youths with depression and bipolar disorder were much more likely to have high blood pressure, unhealthy cholesterol levels, obesity, Type-2 diabetes and damaged arteries than most of their peers.

A 2011 study included in the review examined more than 7,000 American adults younger than 30 and found that a history of depression or attempted suicide was the top risk factor for heart disease death caused by narrowed or blocked arteries in young women; it was the fourth highest risk factor in young men.

Reasons for the increased risk were unclear. But inflammation and other types of cell damage are more common among teens with mood disorders, which might help explain the increased risk of heart disease. 

Youth with mood disorders have not been widely recognized as a group at increased risk for excessive and early heart disease. The new findings, however, should remind doctors to pay extra attention to the heart disease risks of teens with depression and bipolar disease.